Electric safety razor



Nov. 3, 1942. A, SC AAF ETAL 2,301,147

ELECTRIC SAFETY RAZOR Filed March 12, 1938 Z0 AM'XAA QE/P Jay/AA; W R0000 JcHMl/[MA/VM INVENTORS.

BY 115 W A TY'ORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 3, 1942 ELECTRIC SAFETY RAZOR Alexander Schaai, Berlin-Charlottenburg, and

Rudolf Schiinemann, vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application March 12, 1938, Serial No. 195,436 In Germany March 18, 1937 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in electric safety razors in which a razor blade is reciprocated in parallel to its cutting edge.

Electric safety razors driven by electromagnets are well known. These razors, as a rule, contain interrupting device by means of which the operating current is alternately switched on and off. In the known apparatus of this type, the armature-of the magnet strikes against the magnet poles. This produces an objectionable noise and also leads to a waste of energy.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved electric razor, having a vibratory armature for reciprocating the blade, which is noiseless in operation. Another object is to improve the elliciency of such an apparatus by reducing the input energy or by increasing the power out put with a given energy consumption.

An object also is to increase the amplitude of the reciprocatory cutting movements of the blade. Still another object is to prevent in razors of the above-mentioned type any jamming between the operating elements. An object also is to prevent disturbances which may be caused by a departure of the vibratory armature from its proper direction of movement. This is particularly important when the armature bar cooperates with a diaphragm, since in this case it may easily happen that the outwardly projecting portion of the armature may be diverted from its direction of motion when manipulating the safety razor.

A still further object is to improve the protection of safety razors of the type here dealt with against the influence of water and moisture. An object, finally, is the improvement of such razors with respect to construction and space requirement.

The foregoing objects and the essential features of the invention will be understood from the following description of the embodiments illustrated in the drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows aside elevation, partly in section, of a safety razor according to the invention with a removable cover,

Fig. 2 shows a top view of the same razor with the cover removed,

Fig. 3 shows a detail of the same embodiment, and r Fig. 4 is a cross section through the upper portion of the razor shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 exemplifies asecond embodiment by a part-sectional side elevation,

Fig. 6 shows a detail of the embodiment of Fig. 5, and

Nowawes, Germany;

Fig. 7 shows a third embodiment also in a sectional side elevation.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, an oscillatory armature system is arranged in the hollow cylindrical handle I of a safety razor. The armature system comprises a lever 2 which carries a freely oscillating magnetic armature 3 and a head 5. The lever is secured to an elastic diaphragm 4, for instance of corrugated, circular or rectangular shape, which closes the hollow of the handle. In order to attain a favorable power ratio and a sufilciently long path for the movement of the armature system, the ratio of the length of the upper arm of lever 2 to the length of the lower arm carrying the armature 3 is preferably chosen smaller than 1:1, for instance about 1:3.

A movable blade carrier 1', consisting of a fiat plate, is provided with resilient lugs 8 serving to hold the razor blade 6 in proper position. The carrier 1 is guided in a crossbar 22 of the handle so as to becapabl'e of longitudinal movements. The end or head 5 of the vibratory armature system engages an aperture or slot 9 of the carrier I. The head 5 is preferably spherical and the aperture 9 somewhat elongated transverse to the direction of movement of the armature and the carrier. This design prevents the head 5 from jamming in the aperture 9, but nevertheless a contact is ensured between the spherical head 5 and the plate I at diametrically opposite points. Due to the transversal extension of the aperture 9, any transverse oscillations of the armature system with respect to the direction of motion do not interfere with the motion of the blade carrier 1. l2 indicates a protective comb which forms an integral part of the crossbar 22', and i0 denotes a removable cover which is clamped to the bar 22 by means of resilient extensions II. I! is the core of an electromagnet and IS the energizing windings of the magnet. l3 denotes a make and break contact which is arranged on an insulating support l4 secured to the inside wall of the handle l A replaceable battery 20 is arranged in the lower portion of the handle, and a slidable sleeve I5, surrounding the handle and forming the actuating member of a switch (not shown), serves to set the apparatus in and out of operation by connecting and disconnecting the magnet l 6 with the battery. Any other suitable power source may, of course, be employed instead of the battery.

The above-described safety razor operates as follows. When in inoperative condition, the left-hand portion of the armature 3, as shown in Fig. 1, lies above the left pole shoe or end of the magnet body l1, while the right-hand portion of the armature is above the air gap between the two poles. As soon as the magnet coil I6 is energized, the armature is attracted by the righthand pole shoe and moves against the holding force of the diaphragm 4 into the neutral position between both poles of the magnet, this position being shown in Fig. 1. However, when effecting this movement, the armature overshoots the neutral position until the interrupter contact I3 is opened and the magnet coil l6 deenergized. Now, the armature, controlled by the elastic diaphragm 4, returns into its original position, thereby reclosing the contact l3 and energizing the coil I8, so that the cycle is repeated.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. and 6, the magnet system is provided with only one exciting winding HI in order to obtain a more compact construction. As shown in Fig. 6, the magnet core l9 has two limbs which abut or overlap inside the winding in order to reduce the magnetic leakage flux to a minimum.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 'l, the magnet system is so arranged that the magnetic armature I, secured to the lever 2, may freely oscillate within the space between the limbs I! of the magnet core. This arrangement has the advantage that the space is utilized to the greatest possible extent so that the manipulation of the safety razor is rendered more convenient.

The remaining parts of the constructions shown in Figs. 5 to 7 are similar to those of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4. In Fig. '7, the blade carrier 1 and the blade 8 are indicated in order to show their relation to the elements 2, 3, l and I. g

All of the foregoing embodiments are characterized by the following particularities. The magnetic armature 3 is so arranged .in relation to the magnet poles that it is capable of free movements, the amplitude of which is not limited by any rigid abutment. The other end of the oscillatory system is of similar construction, 1. e., the guidance of the blade carrier 1 in the crossbar 22 and the coupling between the carrier I and the lever 2 are of such nature that the longitudinal movements are not damped by rigid abutments. Therefore, the movable system is capable of free oscillations, the character of which is dependent upon the elasticity of the diaphragm 4 and the mass of the oscillating parts. As a result, the operation is noiseless and there are virtually no energy losses due to internal damping effects. The diaphragm, aside from its function as elastic member of the oscillatory system, protects the interior elements of the razor against humidity. It is, however, possible to also provide a protective diaphragm in addition to a separate return spring for the oscillatory system.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric safety razor, comprising a reciprocatory blade member, a housing forming a holder for said blade member, a drive member movably disposed in said housing and having one end engaging said blade member in order to reciprocate said blade member in said holder, an elastic member connected with said drive member so as to form therewith an oscillatory system, a magnet armature forming a crossbar mounted on the other end of said drive member,

an electric contact interrupter arranged in said housing and having a contact mounted on said drive member, an electromagnet electrically connected with said interrupter to be controlled 2. An electric safety razor, comprising a re ciprocatory razor member, a housing forming a holder of said member, an oscillatory drive lever extending substantially in perpendicular direction relative to the reciprocations of said member and having one end engaging said member, a magnet armature mounted on the other end of said lever, an, electric contact interrupter ar ranged in said housing and having a contact mounted on said lever, an electromagnet electrically connected with said interrupter to be controlled thereby and having two magnet poles arranged near said armature yet spaced therefrom in the aforesaid direction to permit said armature oscillations of an amplitude larger than the distance between said poles, and a returnforce member connected with said lever to exert a return force on said lever and armature tending to move said armature out of said polebridging position.

3. An electric safety razor, comprising a reciprocatory blade carrier, a housing having guiding means for holding said carrier, a driving lever disposed in said housing and extending substantially in perpendicular direction relative to movement of said carrier, said lever having one end engaging said carrier, a magnet armature mounted at the other end of said lever, an elastic member connected with said lever to form an oscillatory system, an electromagnet arranged in said housing and having a substantially U -shaped magnet body with inwardly projecting pole ends,

said lever having its fulcrum near the base of said U-shaped body, and said armature being disposed between the limbs of said U-shaped body yet spaced from said pole ends in the aforesaid direction, and electric contact means associated with said lever for controlling said electromagnet in dependence upon the oscillations of said lever.

4. An electric safety razor, comprising a reciprocatory razor member, a housing forming a holder of said member, an elastic diaphragm arranged near said member and forming a partition in said housing, an oscillatory lever firmly mounted on said diaphragm so as to have its fulcrum at said diaphragm, said lever having a short arm engaging said member on one side of said diaphragm and another arm at the other side of said diaphragm being more than twice as long as said first arm, a magnet armature forming a crossbar mounted at the end of said long arm, an electromagnet arranged within the portion of said housing containing said long arm, said magnet having two poles forming a gap near said armature and being spaced from said armature in the direction of said lever to permit said armature oscillations of an amplitude larger than the width of said gap, electric contact means associated with said lever and electrically connected with said magnet to energize said magnet diaphragm extending across the interior of said 10 housing so as to seal part of it against s member, said lever being firmly mounted on s diaphragm so as to be carried thereby hav its fulcrum at said diaphragm, and electrical ,J- operated drive means disposed in the portion o. said housing sealed by said diaphragm and on eratively coupled with the other arm of said lever.

ALEXANDER RUDOLF SCHUNEMANN. 

